THIS WEEKAfter playing seven of its last eight games on the road, the Dartmouth women’s hockey team will return to Thompson Arena to host three consecutive contests. On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Big Green will play its final non-conference game of 2016-17 against New Hampshire at 7 p.m.

LAST TIME OUTDartmouth opened 2017 on the road over the weekend, falling to ECAC Hockey rivals Princeton (4-0) and No. 8/8 Quinnipiac (3-1).

Dartmouth vs. PrincetonAgainst the Tigers on Friday, Mackenzie St. Onge had a good game in her 100th career contest, leading the Big Green with three shots, all of which posed a threat to Steph Neatby in net. Robyn Chemago held strong between the pipes, making 40 saves and ending up with a .909 save percentage.

Although Princeton was in control at the beginning of the first, Chemago and the Dartmouth defense managed to keep the Tigers at bay until after the halfway point. Twenty-one seconds into Princeton’s first power-play opportunity of the night, Carly Bullock waited by the left post and redirected Stephanie Sucharda’s shot from the blue line to give the home team a 1-0 lead after one.

The Big Green played a better second period, keeping the puck in Tiger territory to test Neatby for the first time. Chemago remained a strong force in net after her 16 saves in the first, making countless stops to keep it close. At 14:10, Cassidy Turner made it 2-0 by intercepting a Dartmouth pass and firing from the right.

The Tigers found the back of the net twice in the third period, once at 7:41 and then again at 16:34 to make it a 4-0 game. A few minutes after the first, it seemed as if Princeton had scored again, but Chemago had made the save, spinning on her knees to make the save.

Dartmouth vs. QuinnipiacKennedy Ottenbreit scored her fifth goal of the season in Dartmouth’s 3-1 loss to Quinnipiac at the High Point Solutions Arena on a very snowy Saturday evening.

At 8:54 in the third and with the Big Green trailing by three goals, Ottenbreit fired from the left circle, beating netminder Sydney Rossman and finding the back of the net 43 seconds into the power play. Eleni Tebano and Alyssa Baker were credited with the assists. For the second night in a row, Chemago had 40 saves and had a .930 save percentage.

The early parts of the first period played out quietly, with few shots and fewer whistles. Dartmouth generated some chances, but the majority of them were blocked by Quinnipiac players. The Big Green’s best opportunity of the day was before the halfway point in the period when Tess Bracken fired two in a row, the second hitting the left post. At 12:47, Randi Marcon broke the scoreless tie to give the Bobcats a 1-0 edge that would hold until the second period.

After not taking a shot in the first, Dartmouth got four chances during the following period. With less than two minutes to play, Baker won the faceoff deep in Quinnipiac territory and fired at Rossman in net. When the netminder lost track of the puck, Baker went to pocket the rebound, but it went wide. At 18:49, Taryn Baumgardt shot to the right to make it a 2-0 game.

At 5:40 in the third, Melissa Samoskevich gave Quinnipiac a three-goal lead, but that did not last long, as Ottenbreit netted Dartmouth’s first tally of the weekend three minutes later. The Big Green pulled Chemago in the hopes of getting one more goal with the extra player, but ran out of time before they could do so.

SCOUTING UNHThe Wildcats enter the mid-week game with a record of 9-12-1. UNH was on a six-game unbeaten streak before its most recent game against Northeastern over the weekend, which it dropped by a score of 3-0. During their streak, the Wildcats defeated Providence (2-1), Merrimack (5-2, 4-2), Yale (5-3) and Northeastern (3-2) and tied Maine (2-2). Jonna Curtis leads the team in goals (12) and points (21), while Carlee Turner is first in assists (11). Between the pipes, Hilary Cashin has seen the majority of the action, playing in 14 of the team’s games and sporting a .906 save percentage and 2.63 goals against average.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE WILDCATSOn Dec. 8, 2015, Dartmouth dropped its final road game of the first half of the season to UNH by a score of 3-2 inside Whittemore Center.

Margo Lund got UNH on the board first, faking left and shooting right and getting past two Dartmouth defenders at 3:34 in the opening stanza. The Big Green controlled a lot of the action and outshot the Wildcats, 9-8, but the home team’s defense was on point, blocking nearly half of Dartmouth’s attempts.

The Green got one of their own to tie the score exactly two minutes into the second period. Ottenbreit received the puck from Tebano, and the former’s slapshot from the blue line was deflected by netminder Kyra Smith, but was backhanded between the goalie’s legs by Lindsey Allen for her eighth of the year. That draw did not last long, though, as Cassandra Vilgrain made it 2-1 at 4:34.

In the remaining 15 minutes, the Big Green and the Wildcats took a combined 23 shots, but neither team could get past the goaltenders this time.

Video review of a possible UNH goal a minute into the third period ruled in Dartmouth’s favor, but the Green were not so lucky at 3:20, when Devan Taylor knocked in the Wildcats’ third of the evening. At 15:04, Ailish Forfar took a shot at Smith from the left circle, picked up her own deflection, did a quick spin and fired into the left corner. Trailing, 3-2, the visitors ran out of time before they were able to tie it.

AND IN NET…Chemago had a good weekend in net, stopping 40 shots per game. In 12 games, she has played 662 minutes, has allowed 32 goals while making 363 saves, and has a .919 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average. In three games so far this season, Christie Honor has made 79 stops and allowed 10 goals for a .888 save percentage and 3.45 goals against average. Dartmouth’s other goaltender, Shannon Ropp, has not appeared in a regular-season game, but had a strong performance in the exhibition contest against McGill.

ILDN/ESPN 94.5Every home game (and Ivy League road contests) can be watched on the Ivy League Digital Network (ILDN) with a subscription. For the second year in a row, Rob Kennedy will be back on the call for home contests. Select games will be broadcast on ESPN 94.5 FM, as well as online at 945espn.com.

FOLLOW ALONGLive stats for Tuesday’s game can be found on DartmouthSports.com, while those who purchase a subscription to the ILDN can watch streams of the game. For live updates throughout the contest, follow the team’s official Twitter: @Dartmouth_WIH.

WHAT’S NEXT?This week continues to be a busy one, as the Big Green will be back at Thompson three days after the UNH game for a pair of ECAC Hockey contests. On Friday, Dartmouth will host Union at 6 p.m. and will take RPI at 3 p.m. Saturday.